Saturday, February 27, 2010

my fondness for stones and bones

I attribute my love of archeology, of relics and bones, to the DNA inherited from my great-great grandfather, Palestine Hanna (1856-1938). Farm folk would bring him bones, and various Native American relics from miles around the tiny village of Burlington, Indiana, for his extensive collection, which he kept in a large,
handmade walnut cabinet.

As a girl, I spent many a blissful afternoon, hands cupped around my eyes, and nose pressed against the glass of that dark, magical cabinet. Literally, hundreds of arrowheads and various relics were part of his vast collection. Sadly, my grandfather sold the entire lot of relics back in the 1960s. A tragic mistake I wish I had been old enough to prevent.

There is, however, one piece from Palestine's cabinet that managed to be saved from the sale. I am fortunate enough to have it hanging in the dining room at the manor. It's a giant 38 inch sawfish blade.I have no idea how or where Grandpa Pal acquired this fascinating item, but I have fond memories of it nestled in the back of his cabinet, keeping watch over arrowheads and spear tips.




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84 comments:

  1. Sold? Almost the whole collection? That's tragic. :( I'm glad you have at least this one piece left to keep the memory alive.

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  2. I used to collect shoes and toothpaste tubes. My brother, with more space, collects refridgerators, cars and any machinery he can get for free. My mother collected clothes and shoes. On account of all this, we are all considered to be quite mad.

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  3. Okay, Marc, I have my fair share of shoes, but holy moly, toothpaste tubes?!

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  4. An amazing item! This is more evidence that your magpiety is part of DNA! Hurrah for Grandpa Pal!
    DNA, DNA...
    ....Tingle all the way!

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  5. WOW! The sawfish 'saw' photos are fantastic!

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  6. FireLight, okay, I needed another little ditty in my head! It's a Christmas tune I can sing all year round and drive everyone at the manor wacko. You are a nut. Love it. LOVE it!

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  7. Oh that's really sad. Do you know who your grandfather sold them to - perhaps you could buy them back;) The sawfish blade must be an endless talking point over dinner!

    ... I like the sound of a handmade walnut cabinet ...

    Jeanne

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  8. Neat stuff. I wonder if he had a unicorn horn? Many people used to, actually believing they were from a unicorn (actually narwhales, but you knew that)

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  9. Absolutely that spurred your interest in old bones too! What a great person to be around. He must have been so interesting. Great post and I so love the picture.

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  10. What a beauty that is! I share your fondness for stones and bones but have nothing so magnificent -- a few animal skulls, a bleached deer fibula (there was a tibia but a dog got it) and some petrified tears of the Cherokee Little People.

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  11. Do love that saw fish blade! Too bad the rest was sold but he may have tired of it or the money was needed. I have a small collection of arrow heads I found around here. I wonder if the are worth anything? LOL! Have a good day!

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  12. Willow, I think you and I live in a parallel universe. We have so much in common.

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  13. What an interesting story you share with us, thank you!
    I can’t wait for a pic with the sawfish blade hanging in your dining room.
    Have a wonderful weekend,
    Virginia

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  14. I don't have any arrowheads but I do have stones and bones.

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  15. Now that is way cool...really. smiles.

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  16. Willow--Love the picture of the saw fish blade hanging in the dining room of the Manor. And that second picture? What is that? A whale bone or something? It is so large. I guess stones and bones are all part of things that many of us love. Maybe it is because it takes us back in time to the universal...the DNA all of us share. I am just guessing at this though. You have some great photos of your family. Can you point me in the direction of that DNA ancestor site again? I looked for it but cannot fine it. My husband is interested in trying to find out more about his Cherokee ancestors. Thanks!

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  17. So fascinating.

    also because I live in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
    just sayin'

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  18. I can't help but love collecting. I'm sorry most of the collection is gone, but you have a wonderful piece. Today I feel like a heap of stones and bones. At least I can feel though. :)

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  19. If we all only knew then what we know now...I would have saved all of my tin lunch boxes with Howdy Doody and Captain Kangaroo. They'd be worth tons today. But do I learn? Nooooooo....I still throw everything away.

    Lindsey Petersen
    http://5kidswdisabilities.wordpress.com

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  20. That is truly an amazing story. You must be proud to own such a piece of history. I, too, enjoy archeology and relics. I find it fascinating. Cheers Willow!!

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  21. willow, this is amazing. i have indiana jones in my blood from an early age...fascinating. great pics!

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  22. Teri, my best guess is that Palestine is holding a whale vertebra and rib. What do you think?

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  23. well, we are fellow lovers of old fossils, bones, stones and relics-- too bad that collection is gone but you do have this one piece to bring back the memories.

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  24. Oh, how cool! That IS tragic that it's all gone, though--did he sell it to a museum, do you know? I hope so! What a wonderful piece! I used to think I wanted to be an archeologist, after I read about the lost city of Pompeii as a child. I still think I'd have liked that.

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  25. As far as I know, he sold it to several collectors, so it did not remain intact. ((bleh!))

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  26. Sold off~~OY! When I think of what museums pay now-a-days...staggering...! And diggin' (no pun intended ) that sawfish blade :) WHOA!

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  27. Bones and things interest me but more from a forensic perspective! I collect elephants, mushrooms, strawberry items, and unicorns. Now as I am going to have to downsize, I don't know what I will do with it all...trying to keep only my most favorite treasures will be hard!!

    It is sad that your grandfather did not share more of his collection with his family but, perhaps, that would have really reduced the value of it all.

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  28. That sounds like an interesting collection & he sounds like a fascinating man. Do you know what happened to the cabinet?

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  29. LadyCat, I don't know what happened to the cabinet. Ask The Bach, I bet he knows. (Gosh, I would love to have even the cabinet now.)

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  30. A true Cabinet of Curiosities!

    Have a good weekend, Cro.

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  32. I hope you granddad got a good price for his brilliant pieces.
    You have a lovely weekend.
    Warm regards,
    Simone

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  33. Fascinating narrative and equally fascinating photographs. Your great-great-grandfather was obviously a most remarkable man. I think you may have inherited more than a love of bones and stones. Thanks for a remarkable post.

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  34. Every home need a a cabinet of curiosities! ...And of course the things that won't fit in it. -J

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  35. that pal, he was a most interesting character! I can just picture you pressed against that cabinet, viewing in weaving a story of each item in your imagination.

    thank goodness you have at least one relic from pal's magical cabinet.

    happy theme thursday!

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  36. whoops meant to say happy sepia saturday!! I do get lost in that wormhole known as time!!!

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  37. When I read your posts about your family, I envy you the connections you have to your past. I have a large family, but I never knew a grandparent. I have one vague memory of my grandfather on his sickbed. :-(

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  38. Love the image you conjure up with:

    "As a girl, I spent many a blissful afternoon, hands cupped around my eyes, and nose pressed against the glass of that dark, magical cabinet".

    And the image brings to my mind a word I also like: wunderkammer.

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  39. That a fantastic piece, Such a strong graphic shape. It's a shame about the rest of the collection.

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  40. I love that picture of him holding that huge bone!

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  41. Oh my! What treasures you grew up with and what an amazing man your Grandpa was! How tragic that they were sold, as I too mourn for the things that have disappeared over the years. You did manage to hang on to an impressive memento, though, one of the most unique I have ever seen.
    My family is rife with rock hounds, artifact seekers, fossil lovers and it is quite amazing what the DNA can pass along. (My treasured memorabilia includes jars filled with my father's rocks and gems.)

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  42. I am glad this piece from his collection was saved; there's just something of the mysterious hidden in old things, relics, clothing and such.

    Oh, and Willow, I spent time reading on your link about Sorbie Castle yesterday...=-) what a blessed friend you have to document this for you!!

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  43. Oh, that's awful to think the collection is lost. I wonder where it is now?
    What a spectacular sawfish bone!
    You paint a vivid picture of yourself looking in the cabinet. What a fascinating thing to see as a child.

    Kat

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  44. Willow,

    How do I get your magpie tales button for my blog? I have a hockey blog, but I'm starting a new one. I used to love English composition in high school, but that creativity has been long dormant. I hope to re-awaken it, you've inspired me to do so.

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  45. Wow, what an interesting collection that must have been! Oh, heck, did I say "interesting?" Make that "fascinating!"

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  46. I was wondering if those bones Pal is holding in the photo are dinosaur or mammoth fossils...haven't they found fossils in Indiana?

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  47. hopefully someone enjoys the collection as much as you did and your little piece of it will always bring back wonderful memories :)

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  48. What does he have in his hand!?! It looks like a whale vertebrae, and maybe a jawbone.

    This is so interesting Willow.

    When we moved into the house I grew up in, Mum found all sorts of clay beads and a pre-historic scraping tool, while digging flower beds. They were probably left there by the native Indians who used our neighbourhood as high ground at some point.

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  49. That sawfish blade is amazing.
    Your description of wonder at his treasures was truly evocative - I could see you in my minds eye.

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  50. Grandpa Pal was really awesome! Glad you managed to keep the Sawfish blade.

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  51. Willow, I wish you had the whole collection so you could show more of these relics on your blog. I see a whale vertebrae in the photograph, something that I do have in my collection.

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  52. There is a fine line between a collection and an obsession. :) Very cool post.

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  53. Is Palestine Hanna not the greatest name ever? Superstar material..
    The sawfish blade, hanging vertically or horizontally? I'd like to sit opposite it!

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  54. Aaahhh Willow, you've brought back many fond memories here. Throughout my entire childhood, I remember the fascination of the Indian Cabinet. I'm so glad you have the sawfish blade. I'm so sad that things worked out the way they did. The cabinet and its contents would have been displayed beautifully in Willow Manor. I wish we all could have saved it for you! xx
    The Bach

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  55. Is he your grandfather with the log tombstone? Way cool!

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  56. Stephanie, the guy with the Woodsman tombstone in Albuqueue is Palestine's son's wife's father.

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  57. hi willow - my home and classroom are filled with stones, bones, feathers, seaglass, rocks and dried flowers. but nothing even comes to close to the great sawtooth - that's amazing!!!! steven

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  58. Wonderful that you have the one item--& a curious one at that!--to keep the collection as a whole in mind. I love that shot of Palestine!

    Your book is in the mail, btw!

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  59. Wow! That sawfish blade is a beaut! So sad to think of all those relics gone when you would have cherished them so.

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  60. At least the crown jewel was held onto, but how sad that the others got sold. I look forward to more Papa Pal stories. They are great!

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  61. I'm so glad that you were able to keep one piece!

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  62. The wonders never cease at your blog! Terrific photos and commentary. Happy Saturday...

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  63. There is probably no possible way one could track down who your great-great-grandfather sold the collection to. But wouldn't it be a fine reward to discover the collection still intact somewhere?

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  64. Moey, the best way to put Magpie Tales on your sidebar, is to copy and paste the Magpie Tales header photo and add the click to link url.

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  65. Your Sephia Saturdays are most amazing. The pictures are stunning.

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  66. That is a stunning photograph and the story behind it is - as always - so interesting. It was the nature of the object your grandfather was holding which intrigued me and I suspect your guess of a whale rib is correct.

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  67. What a lovely story and what a great name your great-great grandfather had.

    I had a great aunt who had an extensive shoe collection, she lived until she was one hundred and seemed incapable of throwing away her old shoes.

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  68. That is one amazing blade. And a wonderful photo of Palestine holding those bones.

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  69. What an interesting little story and peek into your life. Thanks for sharing!

    post script: love the color of your paneled walls!

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  70. Palestine Hanna is such a fabulous name.

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  71. Willow,

    It never ceases to amaze me, the parallel of our lives. My Father was an avid collector of artifacts. He was born, raised and lived in a fifty mile radius of southwest Iowa. He collected Indian relics (our family would comb the freshly plowed fields to find many of these), he dug up prehistoric marine life, Saber Tooth Tiger and Mammoth Elephants to name a few. Some of his more important discoveries were donated to a museum. My brother and I had such fond memories of the Native America artifacts which included arrowheads, grinding stones, paint pots, pipes, knives, tomahawks, bowls and more. We always thought they would be handed down to us. There was even a Mammoth Elephant tooth! Regrettably, Father disposed of the entire collection without thinking of us. It was, after all, his to do with as he saw fit. It did sadden us though since we had such fond memories of our part of the collection. There remained a piece of petrified wood that he used as a door stop. My youngest son has it and for that I am thankful.

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  72. What an interesting person he was. Sad that the collection was sold.

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  73. Merci Willow! It worked.

    Oh, and Go Team Canada Go!

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  74. CHK/CHW, I am amazed how similar our experience is!! I know you must feel the same sense of sadness and loss. I wish Palestine's collection had at least been donated to a museum, for all to enjoy.

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  75. wow, what an amazing artefact to have.
    I guess if you were going to keep one, this is a pretty good one!

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  76. It's Good you have kept hold of some of Palestine's Collection.I wonder where the sold items ended up?

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  77. Can I just say: WOW to your granddad's name? My God, the sound of it! I could say it over and over, like a mantra: Palestine Hanna, Palestine Hanna...

    The bones are cool, too. ; )

    xox,
    Susan

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  78. Susan, I know. Looking back, I wish I had used Palestine when naming my children. It's so unique.

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  79. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  80. I, too, thought whalebone, specifically jawbone, plus the vertebra. Right down my alley, as evidenced by one of my earliest Silver Fox posts, reprinted from a half-page article I wrote for a local newspaper!

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  81. I just as well join in and be the 82nd comment. What a great thing to hang on your wall. I am sure most people will notice it right away and you can tell the memories of it all.

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  82. Can see why this was a magical cabinet for a child to peer through. Interesting.

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  83. Oh to have a cabinet like that to fuel my imagination! I have been in love with archeology since I first saw Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford had NOTHING to do with it!).

    I need to find out more about my family's history. I doubt we had any archeologists, but I suspect there were a few gypsys and a pirate!

    Jen

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)